Pregnancy, addiction, and incarceration.

摘要

To the Editor: In the discussion by Drs Clarke and Adashi of perinatal care for incarcerated pregnant women, they included a few paragraphs on addiction, and the patient in the case presented had heroin and tobacco addiction. How-ever, the problem of addiction in inmates, pregnant or not, deserves more emphasis. The number of inmates incarcerated nationally for drug-related offenses has increased 12-fold, from 41000 in 1980 to nearly a half million currently, at an annual cost of roughly Dollars 22 000 per inmate. Half of all jail and prison inmates meet diagnostic criteria for drug abuse or dependence. Jails and prisons therefore represent potential critical entry points into drug treatment.